


Born Before, Walking Again

by little_shinra



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Ending, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Gen, M/M, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-11
Updated: 2019-11-11
Packaged: 2021-02-01 05:16:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 742
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21393580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/little_shinra/pseuds/little_shinra
Summary: I am still your shadow and you my light. My other half, let’s stay together in this place.
Relationships: Vanitas/Ventus (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 27
Collections: Male Slash Flash Exchange 2019





	Born Before, Walking Again

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Serie11](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Serie11/gifts).

> Serie11, I hope you enjoy this piece. This is actually my first published piece for the KH fandom, despite lurking for many, many years in it. I'm glad that it was to a pairing we both enjoy and I hope I managed to touch on the tags you requested, even the ones I didn't list.

_Before, it was only you. Only your face, your body. So interconnected were we, I wasn’t even a ‘me.’_

_Shadow, always following._

_A candle will always cast a shadow. I was always there, being ‘you.’ You were always glowing and I had always kept it from going too far. We kept the other from going over the edge. You were taken away and I was all that remained. Is this what being alive means? _

_Every meeting, met with violence._

_There was nothing else. It was the only way to convey to you my pain, my loss. We weren’t meant to be apart. This void can’t be closed. _

_Each departure, a rejection of a gift._

_Your hands were always offered. We’ve been apart too long. It will always be ‘us’, ‘you and me.’ It will never be a single ‘you.’ I wish it could go back to that. _

_This time, I’ll be in your place, giving you my hands._

_You finally woke. You are glowing again. I waited for so long, I wanted to be the one to meet you this time. So, don’t go where I can’t follow. Take my hands and finish this. I will never leave you._

_We have been born before._

_We are together again. I am still your shadow and you my light. Your memories of the past are there. My other half, let’s stay together in this place. We can never be ‘you’ again, but if you hold my hand, stand by me, I can forget the weight of that loss._

“Vanitas.”

The aforementioned male laid on the ground, curled in a ball against the inner edge of the clock tower. Ventus leaned down and pressed the chilled juice can against his ear.

“Aah! What was that?!” Vanitas covered the ear.

“You didn’t answer.”

“It’s _cold_.”

“That’s good,” He sat on the ledge of the clock tower, patting the space next to him. Vanitas rubbed his ear and adjusted his jacket. He waited in the time it took Ventus to finish his drink before slowly taking the invitation.

Ventus handed him a sea salt ice cream. Vanitas took it, staring at it while Ventus took a bite from his.

“Don’t you have friends to get to?”

“Can you enjoy the moment? I want to be here,” he looked out at the setting sun. “I want you to be here.”

They ate in silence, eating through the ice cream before it could drip onto their hands.

Vanitas wouldn’t admit out loud, but he was enjoying this moment, the silence in the reds and oranges of the sunset. It felt like a dream he couldn’t possibly create; he’s always lacked them. Too good to ever be true. Just like someone he knew. Vanitas would steal glances at Ventus, to make sure he was actually there. He took another large bite of the ice cream, betting on the brain freeze to replace the need to pinch himself.

“Heeeeyyy!” Sora shouted from below, waving his hands at them. His shouting was met with embarrassment from the others with him. Riku reached over and pulled him into a headlock.

Vanitas reclined off the ledge, pulling his legs in. “I’m not here.”

“Van…” Ventus sighed.

Vanitas chomped the remaining piece from the stick and turned it over. Along the length, it read ‘Winner!’ He handed it to Ventus.

“Here,” Ventus checked it over. Before he opened his mouth, Vanitas added, “Just to make Sora shut up.”

“... For a split second, I believed you were being sweet.”

“You’re a fool for thinking so,” he smirked. “You know me better than that.”

Ventus moved down beside him, resting his head on Vanitas’ arm. “Yes, but you can try. You were a part of me after all. My good side must’ve rubbed on you somehow.”

“Shut up. You’re giving me cavities.”

“I’m nowhere near that. I can be worse.”

“Death by diabetes, courtesy of Ventus.”

“_Hey_,” Ventus playfully reached back and messed up his hair. “Like it or not, you have the capability. I believe that.”

“You’ll be the only one.”

“You didn’t count Sora.”

“Sora is his own category.”

“There’s plenty of us-”

“Just shut up,” Vanitas covered his mouth. “Let’s stay like this while we can. Before it’s over.”

Ventus settled himself to a more comfortable position, the two staring up at the sky. The first star could be seen.

“Sure. I’d like that,” he held up the ‘Winner!’ stick next to the star.


End file.
